Being an account of my wargaming activities, a few sailing stories, some beer related anecdotes, what music I'm listening to.... oh, and anything else that knows me!

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

"Turn Left for Gibraltar" - a review...

My first "10 out of
10" of the year so I thought this warranted a post in it's own right....

For anyone with an interest in the submarine service in WWII these book
are an absolute delight... this is the third in a series that goes from strength to strength (in my view), and this is without a doubt his
best to date..

The bulk of the action is set against
the siege of Malta, but it takes up from end of the previous book where
Harry had been serving in a Free French submarine in the Indian Ocean

He starts the book as a "prisoner" in a Spanish POW camp on Majorca (more accurately an internment camp as the occupants were free to move around) and how he gets there makes
interesting reading.... following his escape to Malta he is assigned as navigating officer to one of the 10th Flotilla submarines, and following a successful mission is promoted to first lieutenant in another...

There's lots of gritty and dramatic description of
submarine actions in the relatively shallow Mediterranean, and the
increasingly difficult operational environment on Malta... the book is also very good on the mental/psychological costs of serving in such an environment where your friends disappear (dead) regularly, and the war seems never ending....

My Other Projects/Pages:

Currently reading

..volume 2..

Just finished reading

I've read this one before, but a long time ago - set in the early days of the Punic Wars of the Roman republic this series is about the birth of the Classis Romanum - the Roman Navy - and the ability it gave them to extend their military presence in the Mediterranean. In this first book the background is the Carthaginian invasion of Sicily where two Roman Legions are campaigning, and now stranded as a result of the blockade by the Carthaginian fleet. Against such a background we have the military and political manoeuvrings that resulted in a Roman fleet taking to the water in a little less than a month.. excellent! 9/10